06
After that, I stopped walking to and from
school with Ethan.
I enjoyed being on my own, not having to
carry his lunchbox.
On Children’s Day, after the school play, we
had the afternoon off.
I went straight home. Ethan called after me,
but I pretended not to hear.
<
After lunch, I played with my friends until
evening.
As I approached our house, I smelled Mom
frying bacon.
Aunt Sarah and Grandma were frantically
calling Ethan’s name.
Grandma saw me and kicked me, demanding
to know where I’d taken him.
I said I didn’t know, and she tried to hit me
again.
But she couldn’t catch me. I ran inside.
After the incident with Dad’s broken hand,
Grandma didn’t dare come to our house to
cause trouble with Mom.
I dashed into the kitchen and grabbed a piece
of bacon. Mom warned me it was hot.
I heard the sound of dress shoes. Dad was
く
home.
Aunt Sarah had called his office, saying Ethan
wasn’t home.
Dad lived in the company dormitory and had
taken leave specifically to look for Ethan.
But the first thing he did when he came in
was accuse me.
“You useless girl! Where did you leave your
brother?”
“I don’t know.”
Dad took off his jacket and turned a small
stool upside down.
He told me to kneel on it until I apologized.
I knelt, stubbornly fighting back tears.
My body wobbled, but I struggled to keep my
balance.
“I didn’t do anything wrong!”
く
“He didn’t walk home with me. He has his
own friends!”
I didn’t understand what I’d done wrong. I
wasn’t his babysitter.
Why did I have to watch him all the time? I
hated him.
“Still being stubborn! I’ll teach you a lesson!”
Dad’s face was red, his voice trembling with
rage.
He took deep breaths, paced back and forth,
then kicked the stool out from under me.
I fell to the floor and burst into tears.
Dad was even more impatient. His gentleness
and patience were only for Ethan.
I sobbed uncontrollably, as if crying hard
enough would make the pain go away. Through blurry vision, Dad wasn’t Dad
<
anymore.
He was like a scary shadow from a cartoon.
The last sliver of sunlight retreated from the
doorway.
Darkness took its place.
Dad picked up the stool. “If anything happens
to Ethan, I’ll kill you!”
He raised the stool above his head.
